What does mown mean?
Mown is the past participle of mow and is used when describing grass, hay, or a crop that has been cut. As an adjective, it can also modify a lawn, field, or meadow, often with the implication that the cutting has been done neatly or recently. The word is especially familiar in expressions such as freshly mown and newly mown. Its formation is somewhat unusual in English: although mowed is perfectly acceptable, mown is the traditional participle used in many standard combinations and sounds more natural in literary or descriptive contexts. A sentence such as “the smell of freshly mown grass” uses the word to evoke a specific sensory and pastoral image. It is also useful in formal writing when the action of cutting has been completed and needs to be shown as part of a larger perfect construction, such as “the field had been mown before the storm.”
The past participle of mow, used to indicate that grass, hay, or a crop has been cut.
"The meadow had been mown before the cows were released."
Common in perfect constructions and in fixed phrases such as freshly mown.
Describing grass, a lawn, or a field that has been cut, often neatly or recently.
"A mown field stretched toward the distant line of trees."
Usually appears before a noun or in expressions such as newly mown.
English usually forms the past participle of mow as mown, an irregular form that sounds like its own rhyme word, sown.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does mown come from?
Mown developed from the Old English verb māwan, meaning “to cut grass or crops.” Its modern form follows the pattern of several English verbs whose past participles end in -n, although mowed is also widely accepted. The related noun mower comes from the same verb and refers to a machine or person that cuts grass, hay, or crops.
Related word forms
How mown is actually used
Mown is especially common as the past participle in phrases such as freshly mown and newly mown. Mowed is also a standard, more transparent alternative in American English and is frequently used as the past tense.